Bear Pride Weekend Roundup

by Ronn Vigh

Come Veterans Day weekend, San Francisco will feel like it's become a whole lot smaller as Bear Pride 2013 takes over. It's Gay Pride but for the Bear community, which doesn't necessarily have to do with physique, but more often the common thread for bears is adorning facial hair. This is not a community I'm directly a member of. I've only ever grown one hair on my chest, just south of my left nipple, and somehow it disappeared the day after I noticed it. It just wasn't meant to be.

Festival
organizers have created this inaugural Bear Pride weekend full of events, shows
and parties showcasing the diversity of bear culture and stars who are active
in the bear community. Though, in my opinion, the real stars are probably the
maids of the host hotels. All I'm saying is that these guys had hairs that
wildly went astray after a romp in the sack and wound up lingering for months
among my white sheets; it's like finding dry pine needles on your floor two
months after you removed your old Christmas tree.

I asked Matt
Mikesell, creator of SF Bear Pride and a 17-year San Francisco resident, about
the difference between the bear community and the mainstream gay scene.

"Bears are
individuals, they have their own tastes, social views, and so on," said
Miskell. "Some see 'bear' as an identity and some see it as just a
look, I think its a little bit of both."

The Bearracuda
club promoter is launching Bear Pride out of necessity for this thriving community.
"After International Bear Rendezvous ended in 2011, San Francisco was left
without a proper bear weekend. We have a very large community in the Bay
Area and Bear Pride was created to fill that void."

Mikesell says as
the event progresses they hope to bring in events that will set them apart from
other Bear events around the world. This year he is super excited for the Matt
Alber and Peaches concerts.

I've combed
through the list and put together a rundown of some of the hottest and hairiest
Bear Pride happenings.

THU. 7

Nightlife At
The Academy

Not every Pride-type
event needs to revolve around booze and beer busts. Don't worry though, there
will be plenty of that later. The California Academy of Sciences is offering a
discounted rate to Bear Pride for their Nightlife at The Academy. DJ P. Play of
Honey SoundSystem will be on hand to provide beats in between exploring the
planetarium, aquarium and the four-story rainforest, and isn't the forest a
bear's natural habitat? Or is it Guerneville? 55 Music Concourse Drive, San
Francisco. 6pm-10pm.

Matt Alber

THU. 7

Welcome Party
& Thursday Night Live

The Eagle is
proudly flying again with live music every Thursday night and just down the
road, The Lone Star Saloon will host the official Bear Pride weekend welcome
party. Remember that evening of booze and beer we mentioned a few lines up? Well,
here it is! The Eagle, 398
12th St. 9pm-2am. Lone Star Saloon, 1354 Harrison St. 9pm-2am.

FRI. 8

Matt Alber,
Nakia, Jeb Havens at The RickShaw Stop

Hopefully
adorning the sexy beard in his promo photos, Matt Alber headlines this evening
with his signature mix of guitar and piano stripped-down versions of his album
originals. Though, he's also known to do unlikely Madonna and Whitney Houston
covers that leave the audience in awe. Rickshaw Stop, 155 Fell St. 8pm.

CubCake

If you're not
usually one for sweets, this is the type of cake for you. There's no cover as
The Lone Star Saloon hosts this monthly party of sweet beats by DJs Spaz and
Jimmy Swear. Lone Star, 1354 Harrison St. 9pm.

Bears Love
Honey

San Francisco-based
DJ Collective Honey Soundsystem welcomes Hugo Sanchez from Rome and Virginia
from Berlin for an evening of hard partying and dancing that is sure to leave
plenty of scuffmarks on the BeatBox dancefloor. Bear Pride tag-holders get in
through a priority lane, which seems like a really cool version of FastTrak for
bears. Beatbox, 314 11th St., 10pm - 4am.

SAT. 9

Bearracuda
Featuring Peaches

Dance the
previous night's hangover away at Public Works or fuck the pain away later. However
you do it, Bearracuda is the legendary bear party that started it all. On this
night they will host a rotating group of DJs including San Francisco's own
Stanley Frank, with a headline live music set by the one and only Peaches, who
rocked the crowd at this year's Castro Street Fair. It's only $20 or free with
tags. Public Works, 161 Erie St., 9pm-3am.

LilithBear

This is not a
Sarah McLaughlin show by any means. Truck hosts relentless melodies, rhythms
and danceable beats from performing groups Fartbarf, Munecas and Bad Cop, Bad
Cop. Truck, 1900 Folsom St., 8pm-12am.

Underbear
Party

Strip down to
your skivvies, longjohns or Underoos as DJs Shane Stiel and John LePage play
groovy dance music at the night sponsored by Bear World Magazine. 9pm-3am. Beatbox, 314 11th St.

DJ Shane Stiel spins at the Underbear Party.

SUN. 10

Beer Bust
& SF Patio Party

The Eagle will
be offering up its Sunday afternoon beer bust and The Lone Star Saloon will be
hosting the Sunday afternoon Bear Pride patio party which also has VIP entry
for tag-holders.

Official
Closing Party with DJ Big Dipper

BeatBox hosts
the official closing party with an appearance by Big Dipper, a bear of a rapper
out of Chicago. With a reputation as a sexual provocateur, the raunchy queer
rapper makes everyone bounce and have a good time with his queer mentality,
smart lyricism and humor. Beatbox, 314 11th St. 9pm - 3am.